SECRET SATAN 2024

[odessasteps]

If we could only have I Walk with a Zombie, Night and Dawn of the Living Dead, I'd be happy. Otherwise, I have been sick of zombie movie for like 20 years at least.

[J.T.]

On 10/22/2024 at 8:54 PM, odessasteps said:

I thought about picking Dont Torture a Duckling, but decided against it. 

I have seen that movie so we both know why you considered it and then decided against it. And it ain't because of the ending.

Edited October 28, 2024 by J.T.

[RIPPA]

THE VAMPIRE LOVERS (Roy Ward Baker, 1970)

IMDB : ROTTEN TOMATOES

SELECTED BY @Curt McGirt

This was a surprise to see uncut on the MGM+ network at 2 in the morning. Even more surprising is the incredibly blatant lesbian content, nudity, and the pre-credit sequence that was shockingly violent for a Hammer flick (this however was shot in 1970 which looks to be the start of their racier material). I actually still haven't finished watching it so this is meant to poke me in the right direction as well. 

REVIEWED BY @Andrew POE!

Having watched The Vampire Lovers, there's a lot to like about it. The movie is decidedly low budget but the director Roy Ward Baker did nice little tricks to cover the low budget aspects: fog, lighting in certain places, usage of external shots versus interior shots. As it is, you can tell where the exterior shots are being used - there's a lot more natural lighting and in some cases, like the exterior to the mansion, have nice far wide shots as people arrive and leave.

The introductory scenes were really great at establishing the atmosphere and tone of the movie. Having the credits over a decapitated head certainly is something!

Movie at times felt like what may have inspired Ken Russell to make Lair of the White Worm. Ingrid Pitt has a young Helen Mirren / Jane Seymour / Amanda Donahue quality to her and was certainly as comfortable being naked as Donahue was in Lair of the White Worm. The only difference between the two is it isn't as sexually explicit as Russell is - I liked the scene where the lights are darken and Pitt is standing naked as Camilla. It says more than what Russell did in Lair and in The Rainbow. Although at the time, The Vampire Lovers was derided for pushing Sapphic love; through today's eyes even with the nudity and the kisses, it seems positively tame.

The other effective uses were of smash cuts. I loved the usage of it for the cut from the dead doctor in the road to Emma (Madeleine Smith). I also love the cut from the line "It was a very beautiful woman" said by Baron von Hartog (Douglas Wilmer) to Camilla (Pitt).

Some of the drawbacks is the low budget-ness sometimes doesn't work as well. The dance floor in the early part of the movie is positively cramped and it's fairly obvious that people are nearly bumping into each other. Not to mention that we never see the wall on the camera side. Most of the movie seems to take place on one set where Emma's bedroom is located. When the movie centers there, at times it's rather dull.

Also, slow motion dream sequences and the women dreaming about a "cat" isn't as effective as it should be or it's rather ambiguous what it's supposed to be.

Despite that, this first foray for me into Hammer Horror isn't that bad.

EDITOR'S NOTES

When Curt sent me his review he accidentally wrote "Secret Satan 2014" so I immediately started trying to figure out how to do a retro Secret Satan

It is on Prime till the end of the month. It is always on Tubi

[J.T.]

Yeah, I have probably watched Vampire Lovers and Vampire Circus more than any other Hammer movie, with the possible exception of House of Dracula..

Say what you will about the drawing power of boobs, but these two movies (budgetary issues not withstanding) are arguably the most stylish and intelligent vampire stories ever filmed by Hammer. 

Sure, Vampire Lovers devolves into self-parody but the creative energy seen in Vampire Circus is still present.  It's not surprising why Vampire Circus and Vampire Lovers have become such beloved cult classics.

Edited October 28, 2024 by J.T.

[Travis Sheldon]

I'm a sucker for the Karnstein Trilogy, so I'm excited to see this one covered here.

Kudos to @Andrew POE! for using the phrase "Sapphic love" and for not mentioning Peter Cushing once.

Great later Hammer vampire flick.

[Andrew POE!]

4 hours ago, Travis Sheldon said:

I'm a sucker for the Karnstein Trilogy, so I'm excited to see this one covered here.

Kudos to @Andrew POE! for using the phrase "Sapphic love" and for not mentioning Peter Cushing once.

Great later Hammer vampire flick.

Peter Cushing wasn't in the movie long enough for it to have an impact on me. I was more struck by "nekkid women!" and how it reminded me of Ken Russell to pay attention to Peter Cushing.

My crazy film viewing schedule does have its downfall.

Edited October 28, 2024 by Andrew POE!

[Travis Sheldon]

1 hour ago, Andrew POE! said:

Peter Cushing wasn't in the movie long enough for it to have an impact on me. I was more struck by "nekkid women!" and how it reminded me of Ken Russell to pay attention to Peter Cushing.

My crazy film viewing schedule does have its downfall.

No shade, just me being a Cushing mark and pointing it out.

[odessasteps]

Keeping wanting to make a Vampire Lovers/Fearless Vampire Killers joke, but not getting it. 

[RIPPA]

THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (Robert Fuest, 1971)

IMDB : ROTTEN TOMATOES

SELECTED BY @odessasteps

REVIEWED BY RIPPA

I one of the few people still around who remembers the DVDVR Movie Club (and remembers it fondly). I am also one of the few people who remembers Mark picking The Abominable Dr. Phibes back then (it is also why – even if I wasn’t running Secret Santa – I would have known exactly who picked this movie).

There is also some irony in talking about this movie after my bonus review that also featured another Comedy/Horror (though there is way more “horror” in this. I mean this is about as “dark comedy” as it gets.)

I am only aware of Robert Fuest because of being exposed to the Phibes movies in the Movie Club and having had to suffer through the Timothy Dalton lead version of Wuthering Heights in school. (I don’t consider The Avengers a blind spot because I have no interest in The Avengers).

This movie begins and ends with Vincent Price. That isn’t a shocking statement but if for some reason you don’t really understand how good Price is as an actor. Watch this. If you really need to be convinced how good Price is at being creepy. Watch this. I will give Fuest credit – he is one of the few directors who went “Price is a giant. Let’s take advantage of that to really ramp up the creepy.”

I won’t go into too much detail but the basic gist is that Dr Phibes is disfigured in an auto accident that eventually claims the life of his wife. Phibes blames the medical professionals who didn’t save her. Oh BTW, everyone thought Phibes was dead too. Because of the accident, Phibes has an elaborate voice box gimmick. I am a mark for a voice box gimmick. It is was why I would randomly defend Kane from time to time on the 500. I deserve all the bad things that happen to me.

Anyway – Phibes decides to kill them all - the 9 members of the medical team that Phibes blames for the death of his wife, not the world population just for clarity’s sake. But to give himself a challenge or something, he bases all of the murders on the Ten Plagues of Egypt. Granted they played loose and fast with what the actual Plagues were. (Just like the bible does with the truth! Suck it Religion!). This leads to some wild deaths. I mean I can handle bats and I think, THINK, I can handle crickets but as someone currently dealing with a mouse in their house problem, the rats can fuck all the way off.

Oh, I should also note that the police are really really really bad at their jobs. Funny but really really really bad at their jobs.

This movie really is insane in all the right ways and should be seen if you haven’t done so already. Though I should note it is very British so that might impact your feelings too.

EDITOR/WRITER'S NOTE

Multiple versions can be found on Youtube. HERE is the version on Internet Archive (working under the assumption that it is working again). It is also on Apple+

[No Point Stance]

Just sent my review, two weeks after I promised it. Apologies to Rippa and whoever picked my selection. I'm one'a those day late and a dollar short motherfuckers.

[Curt McGirt]

On 10/28/2024 at 6:16 AM, J.T. said:

I have seen that movie so we both know why you considered it and then decided against it. And it ain't because of the ending.

Fulci's misogyny is problematic, but I think it's part of his inherent pessimism, which was overwhelming. The chain murder also had a point in the story: the cruelty and ignorance of the public. 

Now when you hit The New York Ripper we got an issue. 

Edited October 29, 2024 by Curt McGirt

[Curt McGirt]

I found out that the scenes with his mask on, Price actually figured out a way to move his neck while the verbalization went on. That's crazy. 

Phibes is in the top three Price films with House on Haunted Hill and Witchfinder General, even if he personally liked Dragonwyck best. Cinefantastique Magazine did an excellent Price retrospective with an extended interview before he died in the '90s that you can find somewhere here: https://archive.org/download/cinefantastique_1970-2002

EDIT: You might not want to watch that trailer because it gives away literally all the murders. It also reminded me of one of my favorite things in the film (thought it doesn't show them strangely), the robot band that plays the music for the killer art deco set. 

Edited October 29, 2024 by Curt McGirt

[J.T.]

I love Dr. Phibes.  It is so insane and stupid yet still manages to be totally creepy.  The 10 Biblical Plagues murder plot is so fucking comic book supervillain it's unbelievable.  And yeah, this movie single-handedly built the The Police Are Completely Worthless movie trope.

It is really cool how Rippa pointed out how well the direction plays towards Price's strengths as a character actor.  Price has played tons of iconic horror movie villains over the years and when I think about it, none stick out more to me than Dr. Phibes.

On 10/29/2024 at 5:33 PM, Curt McGirt said:

Fulci's misogyny is problematic, but I think it's part of his inherent pessimism, which was overwhelming.

I don't disagree.  Sadly a case where art really did imitate life.

Edited October 31, 2024 by J.T.

[Curt McGirt]

It's also hard to say you aren't a misogynist when what is probably one of your least misogynist films still features a woman vomiting her own organs and another getting BURIED ALIVE 

[odessasteps]

There are things I love about the second Phibes movie more than the original, like Biederbeck being a worse villain so Phibes is kind of a tweeter and the ending. And there’s also Theatre of Blood, which is Phibes with Diana Rigg and other greats of British cinema/theater. 
 

We discussed Phibes and Theatre on the new pod with Brian Solomon (cheap plug).

[Curt McGirt]

Aw yeah I forgot to mention Theatre. Fun movie, and surprisingly bloody; kind of a comedy giallo/slasher. 

[RIPPA]

BONUS REVIEW: ODDITY (Damian Mc Carthy, 2024)

IMDB : ROTTEN TOMATOES : METACRITIC

REVIEWED BY @J.T.

I know the cool kids go on about J-Horror and the New French Extremity but for me, besides Hollywood there is no better friend to horror than the United Kingdom. Peeps of a certain age (like me) were practically raised on Hammer Films vampire classics and films from directors like David Bruckner and Gareth Evans have kept the ball rolling to this very day.

Which brings us to Damian McCarthy.  In 2020, McCarthy burst onto the scene with his brilliant, micro-budget nerve jangler, Caveat.  When I heard that he was going to get a more respectable budget for his sophomore entry, Oddity, I was more than a little concerned.  Usually bad things happen when someone not used to spending a lot of money receives a lot of money.  The first casualty is usually creativity.  I am pleased to say that this wasn't the case with Oddity.

Oddity tells the rather tragic story of Darcy Odello (Laura Tunstall), the blind, clairvoyant owner of a curio shop specializing in the sale of haunted items (if you look closely at her wares, you will see the ghost-detecting bunny from Caveat!). 

She is mourning the death of her twin sister, Dani Odello-Timmis (also played by Turnstall), who was murdered by a madman two years prior to the time when the film begins.  Dani's husband,the psychiatrist Dr. Ted Timms (Gwilym Lee), visits Darcy at her shop to see how she's faring and half-heartedly suggests that Darcy come visit the house sometime.  Little does Ted realize that Darcy is not only going to arrive that weekend to catch him spending time with his new girlfriend, Yana (Caroline Menton), she's also going to bring a wooden statue with her as a housewarming gift.

Did I mention that the madman accused of killing Darcy's twin sister was a former patient of Ted's?  You can see where this is going, right?

Anyway, Oddity weaves a wonderfully Hammer-eqsue narrative of gothic horror, betrayal, insanity, and all of that good shit.  It's not terribly revolutionary, but it is a good story told extremely well and sometimes that's more than enough.  It also sports one of the best uses of Chekov's Gun that I have ever seen, but to tell more would spoil things. 

Go watch this.  And while you're at it, check out Caveat.

Both films are currently available on Shudder / AMC+.

[The Comedian]

On 10/22/2024 at 1:24 PM, Andrew POE! said:

I had a whole list I sent to Rippa that came from Criterion Channel's Giallo collection. I think next month I'll be watching the movies in that collection if they are coming off the channel.

Out of their list, probably the closest ones to horror are All The Colors Of The Dark (Marino, 1972) and Deep Red (Argento, 1975). Other more horror-tinged giallos I would recommend include The House With Laughing Windows (Avati, 1976), Eye in the Labyrinth (Caiano, 1972), and The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (Miraglia, 1972).

[Andrew POE!]

4 hours ago, RIPPA said:

BONUS REVIEW: ODDITY (Damian Mc Carthy, 2024)

IMDB : ROTTEN TOMATOES : METACRITIC

REVIEWED BY @J.T.

I know the cool kids go on about J-Horror and the New French Extremity but for me, besides Hollywood there is no better friend to horror than the United Kingdom. Peeps of a certain age (like me) were practically raised on Hammer Films vampire classics and films from directors like David Bruckner and Gareth Evans have kept the ball rolling to this very day.

Which brings us to Damian McCarthy.  In 2020, McCarthy burst onto the scene with his brilliant, micro-budget nerve jangler, Caveat.  When I heard that he was going to get a more respectable budget for his sophomore entry, Oddity, I was more than a little concerned.  Usually bad things happen when someone not used to spending a lot of money receives a lot of money.  The first casualty is usually creativity.  I am pleased to say that this wasn't the case with Oddity.

Oddity tells the rather tragic story of Darcy Odello (Laura Tunstall), the blind, clairvoyant owner of a curio shop specializing in the sale of haunted items (if you look closely at her wares, you will see the ghost-detecting bunny from Caveat!). 

She is mourning the death of her twin sister, Dani Odello-Timmis (also played by Turnstall), who was murdered by a madman two years prior to the time when the film begins.  Dani's husband,the psychiatrist Dr. Ted Timms (Gwilym Lee), visits Darcy at her shop to see how she's faring and half-heartedly suggests that Darcy come visit the house sometime.  Little does Ted realize that Darcy is not only going to arrive that weekend to catch him spending time with his new girlfriend, Yana (Caroline Menton), she's also going to bring a wooden statue with her as a housewarming gift.

Did I mention that the madman accused of killing Darcy's twin sister was a former patient of Ted's?  You can see where this is going, right?

Anyway, Oddity weaves a wonderfully Hammer-eqsue narrative of gothic horror, betrayal, insanity, and all of that good shit.  It's not terribly revolutionary, but it is a good story told extremely well and sometimes that's more than enough.  It also sports one of the best uses of Chekov's Gun that I have ever seen, but to tell more would spoil things. 

Go watch this.  And while you're at it, check out Caveat.

Both films are currently available on Shudder / AMC+.

I had reviewed this earlier in the year and never picked up on the Hammer-esque British horror vibe it was going for. I thought it reminded me of Personal Shopper from Oliver Assayas.

[J.T.]

19 hours ago, Andrew POE! said:

I had reviewed this earlier in the year and never picked up on the Hammer-esque British horror vibe it was going for. I thought it reminded me of Personal Shopper from Oliver Assayas.

I am old so that is the parallel I drew. Oddity definitely feels like a movie made in the UK and the gothic horror element reminded me of Hammer.

Unlike the usual Hammer joint, Oddity is played very straight despite the supernatural elements.  Even the most serious of Hammer films still had an element of camp to them.

Edited October 31, 2024 by J.T.

[(BP)]

Oddity not only has a great jump scare, it also has a sight gag involving the statue sitting at a table that absolutely killed me. 

[RIPPA]

HISTORY OF THE OCCULT (Historia de lo Oculto) (Cristian Ponce, 2020)

IMDB : ROTTEN TOMATOES

SELECTED BY @The Comedian

Judging from the title, you'd think it might be something like Haxan. What you're actually getting here is Z crossed with Late Night With the Devil. In late-80's Argentina, a group of journalists and academics run a soon-to-be cancelled news program opposing the corrupt President Belasco. In a last-ditch effort, they bring on a self-proclaimed warlock and former business partner of Belasco's, hoping they can get him to tie the regime to all sorts of corruption, in particular a bizarre John Doe murder case. As the night progresses, things get weirder both in the studio and the in the hideout where the producers are holed up...Anyway, it's available on Tubi, I'm very interested to see someone else's take on it...

REVIEWED BY @No Point Stance

Well now, here’s a thing. I want to thank whoever picked this film because it slipped under my radar, not that I have my thumb on the pulse of cinema nearly as much as I had in the past. Amusingly, last year I picked an Argentinean flick (Aterrados) for HH and this year I’ve been handed something from the same country to review myself. I’m not sure if Rippa is doing some educated guesswork on people’s tastes or what.

Preamble to one side, let’s talk about Historia de lo Oculto. Or let’s at least try, since I’m finding it a little hard to commit to an opinion on this film and I strongly suspect there’s a great deal of modern political allegory going on here, in addition to the real world political scene of Argentina in 1987, the movie’s time and place.

Being that this is 2024 and my first language is English, comparisons with Late Night with the Devil are almost inevitable but HdlO, while sharing a very similar starting point is a somewhat different animal in execution. Both are concerned with a live television broadcast of a chat show that goes awry thanks to paranormal or Satanic influences, complete with hurried, unscheduled station breaks and unpleasantness suffered by the show’s host and guests alike. The Argentinean film is less kinetic,  less tongue-in-cheek and reveals its horror elements in generally much more subtle and gradual ways than the more recent US production; it’s also not confined to the studio location, unlike LNwtD, with at least 50% of the story taking place in a suburban house where a quartet of Channel 6 journalists, researchers and producers have sequestered themselves to watch the final live broadcast of ‘60 Minutes Before Midnight’, a current affairs panel show. All four – Abel, Maria, Jorge and Lucio – are more or less in hiding as they’ve been zealously pursuing a story that could topple the government and tonight they’re hoping to see the results of their investigation come to fruition as the nation watches. Earlier in the evening Jorge met up with an informant who passed on a package from someone called Von Merken who is apparently motivated by a desire to bring down Argentina’s current president, Belasco. Jorge mentions being troubled by a phrase in his head but he can’t place its origin; ‘The future is over’. Tension mounts as the night’s edition of 60 Minutes Before Midnight opens, with host Alfredo telling viewers that it’s their final show, the culmination of a long investigation that has made the production a lot of enemies and caused backers to pull sponsorship money. As Alfredo explains, the only reason they have this one last broadcast is that it is being bankrolled entirely by Von Merken Laboratories. He introduces his guests, an author/sociologist, a senator and Adrian Marcato, VP of a powerful local corporation.

Events unfold from there more or less in real time, cutting from the safehouse occupied by our four investigative reporters to Alfredo and his guests in the studio, to a junior reporter, Natalia, who is out on the city streets chasing a mysterious errand at the behest of Alfredo and his news team. At intervals we are reminded that the end of tonight’s broadcast will coincide with a large-scale midnight protest rally against the president’s economic policies in downtown Buenos Aires.

Abel opens the mysterious package that was given to Jorge. A note within identifies the contents as tannis root, and strongly suggests that the investigators will only get to the truth of what’s going on if they eat the root and then conduct a séance-cum-guided meditation-cum-hallucinogenic trip together. Things then start to get very strange at the house. On-air, Alfredo references a macabre unsolved murder committed nine months previously. A port security guard found a mutilated John Doe within a runic circle with the presumed killer crouching over the body. The witness later changed his story and then died shortly thereafter. The twist here is that, prior to the witness’s death he gave Alfredo’s team a notebook (actually more like a handwritten Necronomicon of sorts) he claimed was left by the killer – a killer he also claimed vanished before his eyes. This notebook has never been seen by the authorities and, Alfredo claims, contains references to two of his three guests…

Here's the TL, DR bit: I made a lot of notes but I think it best to leave the synopsis there, at roughly the film’s 20-minute mark, so fuck my notes. If the movie sounds intriguing then I recommend watching it without the impairment of knowing every little thing.

I’m weirdly undecided about how much I like Historia de lo Oculto. On the one hand, it’s tense, gripping, loaded with good performances and a premise that draws you in; on the other hand, I can’t help wondering if it’s over-reliant on ambiguity, if apparently important characters and events were ultimately as insignificant as they seem, if the film seems to be smarter than it is...? There’s so much to unpack, with the narrative touching on things like conspiracy theories, the Satanic panic, the concept of living in a simulation of some sort (not a spoiler, just one of many possibilities suggested by the dialogue). I was invested but damn confused, and I don’t really know on a first watch if that’s a shortcoming on my part or the film’s.
A few tattered observations, then. I noticed that Ponce has a VFX credit in addition to directing. The film is light on splatter but does use some striking visual effects sparingly. Ponce also seems to be a Fulci fan, not only naming a character Lucio but naming another (Marcato/Mercato) after a character in Fulci’s Manhattan Baby. There are traces of playfulness here and there in what is an otherwise straight horror-drama-political thriller; notably a movie poster for All the President’s Men visible on a street wall in the background of a shot. I’d imagine that someone with a working knowledge of politics in 1987 Argentina might get more out of the story and setting. I did read that there was a minor armed rebellion by members of the country’s armed forces that year, but what, if any relevance, that holds here is beyond me.

Ultimately, I liked it. Maybe a lot. I will say that it’s one of those rare films that you kind of want to watch again immediately in order to feel you’ve understood it. Unfortunately, with time being short and this write-up already being late, that second viewing will have to wait.

Anyway, it’s always fun doing this, and thanks to whoever picked this movie. I’m glad I got to see this.

[No Point Stance]

On 10/30/2024 at 3:45 PM, The Comedian said:

Out of their list, probably the closest ones to horror are All The Colors Of The Dark (Marino, 1972) and Deep Red (Argento, 1975). Other more horror-tinged giallos I would recommend include The House With Laughing Windows (Avati, 1976), Eye in the Labyrinth (Caiano, 1972), and The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (Miraglia, 1972).

No love for Torso (AKA The Body Showed Traces of Carnal Violence!)? Absolutely textbook giallo from IMHO the master of the form, Sergio Martino. The locked door scene is a masterclass in creating tension and dread.

[J.T.]

4 hours ago, (BP) said:

Oddity not only has a great jump scare, it also has a sight gag involving the statue sitting at a table that absolutely killed me. 

And the final frame of the movie is perfect.  If you see a gun in the first act, it must be fired in the third.

It is cool how McCarthy is from Cork, Ireland and sets all of his films there.  He probably films there to save on travel and location expenses, but he's also building a mythology around Cork the same way that Stephen King has turned Maine into the scariest state in the US.

Edited October 31, 2024 by J.T.

[Lawful Metal]

I got to say the picks this year have been great. I haven’t seen most of of them and most are old af. Can’t wait to watch them all!

I did see Dr Phibes but had no clue there were sequels. 

y’all are fantastic!